They gained traction because of fanboys as was previously mentioned. They discussed the Panda race at length in the CE DVD. They were never intended for WoW. They were only an April fool's prank that gained transaction once people liked how they looked and a Blizzard artist continued to create artwork for them.

An April fool's joke ballooned into a joke of new playable race. Unfortunately, it is here to stay.

An April Fool's joke the playerbase liked and actually wanted when they were also in a Blizzard game and now they're also in World of Warcraft.

I would actually like a more in depth take at the gnome race and lore, may push me playing them.

Gnomes are a titan creation, affected by the curse of flesh to turn them into a mortal race. Like the dwarves, and to a certain degree, humans. Because they were orignally mechanical creation (mechanomes), they have an inclination for making mechanical devices (engineering). Whereas the dwarves were originally stone, and so have more of a passion for mining/digging and such. That was all developed in Wrath of the Lich King. Do you want to play a gnome now?

The pandaren aren't all "there is only peace!" There is farming, kicking back in the town watering vegitables and stuff, but that is a small part. I skipped over most of it while leveling my warrior.

At the heart of all of Pandaria is various wars. Not the least of which is the pandaren rising up against their Mogu overlords, toppeling their stranglehold on the land, and then, pretty much, taking over the lands themselves. They're more willing to live side by side with the other races, but you don't see them tearing down that wall.

And if you want war, play the Dreadwastes. I love the Klaxxi. There are two groups. There's the Empress and those who follow her, who are possessed/influenced by Sha, and want to break through the wall and start taking over pandaria. Then there are the others, that players work with. They want to tear through the wall and take over pandaria... but not yet! They have a very specific cycle to follow, and the Sha have started the fight early, so basically they aren't prepared yet. They are warring within their own kind, and because they're not on the same page, they're not going to be prepared to fight the bigger, common enemy.

Which is a set up for the Alliance-Horde conflict. How many times has the same force threatened both sides? And yet Alliance and Horde can't/won't/struggle to work together to fight it. If they'd just get on the same page, they'd be a stronger force against outside enemies.

TL;DR Pandaren aren't about peace, they're about fighting when you Need to, not just because you Want to. I think it fits in with WoW's overall themes very nicely.

They gained traction because of fanboys as was previously mentioned. They discussed the Panda race at length in the CE DVD. They were never intended for WoW. They were only an April fool's prank that gained transaction once people liked how they looked and a Blizzard artist continued to create artwork for them.

An April fool's joke ballooned into a joke of new playable race. Unfortunately, it is here to stay.

Yeah. Fans really did like the April Fool's joke they made over a decade ago which is why they included a hero unit in a story campaign and enemies and neutral NPCs across a handful of other maps
The Frozen Throne.

That was nine years ago.

I mourn the loss of a man of true vision and talent. You were my idol, Mr. Giger.
You gave faces to my dreams and nightmares and sparked my imagination throughout my entire life. You will be missed.Hans Rudolf Giger
2/5/1940 - 5/12/2014

Yeah. Fans really did like the April Fool's joke they made over a decade ago which is why they included a hero unit in a story campaign and enemies and neutral NPCs across a handful of other maps
The Frozen Throne.

That was nine years ago.

And the fans continued to like them over those years and constantly asked about them.

And the fans continued to like them over those years and constantly asked about them.

I know. I'm just repeatedly pointing out exactly how old this joke they think is so important is and how long ago they were really added to lore.

I know they will still keep giving the same BS excuse, but it's worth repeating.

I mourn the loss of a man of true vision and talent. You were my idol, Mr. Giger.
You gave faces to my dreams and nightmares and sparked my imagination throughout my entire life. You will be missed.Hans Rudolf Giger
2/5/1940 - 5/12/2014

When I first heard about the expansion I was like "omg panda's? that is going to look stupid!" and now I have a pandaren monk as my current main heh. Thought the Tillers would be dumb but it's actually some of the more entertaining dailys you end up doing. MoP has been a lot of fun for me.

The whole Asian theme doesn't bother me as WoW has always themed out a lot of it's content. Not any more out of place then Uldum's egyptian theme or the Romanian style of the Worgen area. At least the Pandaren got a bit more investment into the story than the Worgen or Goblin's did.

The four elements, like man alone, are weak. But together they form the strong fifth element: Boron.

Im curious on where do this people that think that pandarens are "too childish" draw the line?
Cow People ... not childish
Wolf People ... not childish
Blue Goat People ... not childish

and then npcs
Walrus People .. not childish
Fish People .. not childish

Pandaren : OMG KUNGFU PANDA, THIS GAME SUXS, KIDS MOVIE INTO WOW

I can answer this relatively easy at least for myself anyway.

Cow people were easy enough to get around cause they were close enough to a minotaur that one could accept it.

Wolf people the same as the above.

However, Blue goat people pushed players limits and the story that came along with them but they had so little to do in the expansion it was easy enough to skip them. As a playable race, you didn't really have to do anything at all with them. So that imaginary breaking point line people have was there and this race pushed gamers close to it but limited exposer helped not kill the buzz of the expansion.

Now bring in the walrus people of Lich King and thank God they were only NPC. They were another addition to the game that should have ended up on the development room cutting floor. Another push to that breaking point time for some gamers but since they were NPCs the resulting addition of them was limited but still quite stupid in the overall WOW universe and pushed gamers still closer to that breaking point line.

Now you bring in the pandas.

An entire expansion built around them that is totally different than what was done with the blue goats, then piggy backing off the popularity of a much broader scoped kungfu panda to hit a much broader scope of casual players. The same race we played as an easter years pasted but many probably never seen them till someone else told them about it and they went back to see it in WC3, then the massive April Fools joke about them when any other race could have been used but pandas were chosen instead. Why? Probably cause they were a joke around the office.

All that leads in some sense to why people dislike the race and expansion.

Over time some gamers were pushed closer and closer to that "last straw" moment. Pandas were it, if not pokemon or farmville or any other number of features. At some point, they decided there not going to support or fund MoP for whatever reason pushed them there. Take your pick or come up with something on your own but pandas was the last straw for a good many people.

It's great people like MoP and you don't have to agree with me but if you really can't understand how some don't or how some have put up with certain WOW additions and this one being the last straw in a large stack of straw, then it's not the gamers that dislike MOP that need to broaden there minds for understanding.

I can get how you might like MoP but can you honestly say you can't understand how some gamers don't ?

An entire expansion built around them that is totally different than what was done with the blue goats, then piggy backing off the popularity of a much broader scoped kungfu panda to hit a much broader scope of casual players. The same race we played as an easter years pasted but many probably never seen them till someone else told them about it and they went back to see it in WC3, then the massive April Fools joke about them when any other race could have been used but pandas were chosen instead. Why? Probably cause they were a joke around the office.

All that leads in some sense to why people dislike the race and expansion.

Over time some gamers were pushed closer and closer to that "last straw" moment. Pandas were it, if not pokemon or farmville or any other number of features. At some point, they decided there not going to support or fund MoP for whatever reason pushed them there. Take your pick or come up with something on your own but pandas was the last straw for a good many people..

I can get how you might like MoP but can you honestly say you can't understand how some gamers don't ?

I understand that there are many people ignorant of WoW lore and that the joke this entire tantrum stems from predates Warcraft 3.

It has been over a decade! GET OVER IT!

I mourn the loss of a man of true vision and talent. You were my idol, Mr. Giger.
You gave faces to my dreams and nightmares and sparked my imagination throughout my entire life. You will be missed.Hans Rudolf Giger
2/5/1940 - 5/12/2014

I do wish though that they added the Jinyu for alliance and the Hozen for horde. Those two races DO join the fight in their respective sides, and were in conflict and thus had the "war" feeling the pandaren do not.

Actuwally after reading that i would have To agree, specialy with the aftermath of Jade forest if you do the whole zone.
It could of Progrossed with the Hozen, Maturing, learning to adapt to change, and figuring out how to fit in with new races.

The same with the Jinyi they could learn how to adapt to this new "Allaince" Hell in fugutre patches they could Add a few to stormwind to help with Vashj

If Blizzard had wanted to make agame apart, or integrate them into Titan, I would have had no problem with the existence of pandaren and their lore.

But their endless stream of peaceful, happy drinking Starfleet explorers atmosphere is totally out of Warcraft context.

Pandaren have been in Warcraft lore for at least as long as Arthas and Illidan (WCIII), and one of them was a founding member of the Horde (Chen Stormstout). They have appeared in every iteration of Warcraft; RTS (WCIII), MMO (MoP), action figures, the tabletop RPG, the TCG, Novels, comics, everything. Hell, I don't even think gnomes and trolls can claim that.

If you don't like 'em, just say you don't like 'em. That's fine. Just don't try to legitimize your opinion with baseless non-facts.

Last edited by Urti; 2012-10-08 at 07:13 PM.

"Stop being a giant trolling asshole." - Boubouille
"The Internet is built on complaints about asinine things" - prefect
"Facts became discussable when critical thinking stopped being the focus of education."- Chonogo
"Sometimes people confuse "We Don't Understand This Yet" with "Ooga Booga Space Magic" - Chazus

I understand that there are many people ignorant of WoW lore and that the joke this entire tantrum stems from predates Warcraft 3.

It has been over a decade! GET OVER IT!

Given the debate about it has been going on so long, it's far from over. I doubt you understand anything from the other sides perspective.

Even if blizzard spends countless hours doing all they can to make pandas an addition to WOW beyond even this expansion, there are enough people that simply won't support it. Beyond the other poor development ideas that made it to the game, this one (pandas) was teh last straw.

Like it or not that's just the way it is. Be it gnomes, taurens, wolfmen, blue goats or whatever.

The Easter egg was placed and the joke made. Hell, I bet they tried to get Jack Black to do a voice over.

When the creators of the race think of them as a joke did you really expect gamers to think any differently?

There are times when you just can't support the development of something even if it is a smaller portion than the whole.

Originally Posted by Destil

SNIP...

You just need to deal with that my friend.

I did. I stopped playing and paying.

However, that has nothing to do with me posting here since the forums are here for us all to voice our opinions.